toward the end zone. the ball sailed out of bounds. a cheerleader with her back to the field got leveled. oh my! look at that. luckily, she is okay. she laughed it all off after the surprise takedown. wow. she's a tough one. thanks for starting your morning with us. we have much more ahead on "cnn saturday morning," which starts right now. good morning, everyone. i'm randi kaye. 7:00 on the east coast, 4:00 a.m. on the west. we begin with the one story that impacts all of us. food prices up by 10% according to a new report from the world bank. the cost of corn and soybeans spiked by 25%. now, at an all time high. the drought here in the u.s., partially to blame. the gulf coast grapples with loss and damage from isaac. right now, it's moving through

the midwest. with it rain and relief for a part of the country in the middle of the worst drought in decades. we are talking several inches of rain from isaac. farmers are desperate for it. it may be too late. it may not be enough. here is susan candiotti with a reality now in the fields. >> reporter: with corn stalks crunching under his feet, richard goes to harvest. thanks to the summer's drought, the field corn is fried to a crisp. in blistering 90 degree heat, not much else to do but climb into the combine and mow down the stalks. >> you put a lot of money and time and effort into it. then you see no return. it's a hard thing to do. >> reporter: hard for every farmer in the midwest whose crops are virtually a total loss. this is so brittle.

i mean, what is left in here? what is left in here? >> there's nothing. this one has -- it's basically died right before production. >> reporter: it's like dust. he'll salvage the little he can. maybe five bush shells of grain an acre. >> i'll turn the cows to the field. they can eat leaves and stuff like that. they won't get much. it will keep them alive for a few more days. >> reporter: here in missouri, rain is nine to 15 inches below normal. even if isaac delivers three to five inches of rain as predicted, it won't wipe out the drought but every little drop will help. isaac's rain is coming too late to help ranchers who already threw in the towel. >> it really hurts when you see a producer come in who said i

sold my cattle today. they are crying at the counter. is there help out there? there's nothing we can do. >> reporter: they are grazing on brown pastures. no rain means prices skyrocketed. they are giving them hay now, before they normally do in the fall. he is fifth generation. farming is in his blood. >> this is farming. you take the good with the bad. >> what is your message to isaac? >> come take a visit. i'll grill, i'll have drinks in the cooler. come on. set up shop. >> reporter: the rains are coming. what do you think? >> great. i can't wait just to walk in the rain. >> reporter: just to feel it? >> just to feel it coming down. >> reporter: and start walking in greener pastures. susan candiotti, cnn, missouri.

>> we are tracking isaac as it makes its way through the midwest. bonnie is in this morning watching it all from the severe weather center. good morning. >> morning. >> what states could see rain? >> right now, rain across a wide area. let's take a look. we have rain in kansas and missouri, illinois, back out toward indiana and ohio. there's a lot of heavy rain coming in. kind of in a wide area. this is impacting drivers. more importantly, we would love to get the rain that you saw to the drought-stricken areas because of much of the country in an exceptional drought. >> flash floods, any concern about that? >> absolutely. the ground is so dry. it can't absorb the rain as fast as it's coming in. you can see, we have the heavy rain across the midwest. but, looking ahead, the projected rainfall is higher than that. we could see six to eight inches in some parts of illinois, for

example. we don't have flash flood advisories for the midwest. we did yesterday. the only place we have the flood advisories are down in louisiana. there's 20 inches of rain on the ground in new orleans. it's going to take awhile for the water to recede. it's interesting to look ahead. we are expecting, as i mentioned, we are watching clolsly in the tropics. we have two other systems out there. just to give you a heads up, we are looking at the effect of leslie. that may impact us later this week in terms of rip currents. they are having a huge effect on so much of what we are doing here in the weather center and on your holiday travel with the rain, you have to be careful driving. heavy downpours are possible. >> a lot going on this morning. thank you. to politics now and the disaster in louisiana has become part of the political story. mitt romney was there yesterday

touring the damage with bobby jindal. president obama won't be there until monday. let's bring in paul steinhauser. good morning. you look at this, the president going there after romney. what's the take away? >> reporter: you know, the romney thing was a surprise. we learned about it yesterday morning. the romney campaign says they were invited by bobby jindal, a republican who was supposed to speak at the republican convention in tampa but didn't go when isaac hit his state. he stayed home to deal with the repercussions there. he invited romney. he said the reason was to get more awareness of what was going on in louisiana and to help the storm victims out. the governor going by himself, not with paul ryan. he broke away from ryan. they were going to campaign yesterday in virginia. ryan went to virginia and romney to louisiana. the president going on monday. the president travels with a little bit of a larger footprint. romney went with a smaller

staff. this all goes back to 2005 when you want to talk about politics. the criticism president bush got by not going immediately to louisiana after hurricane katrina. >> certainly, they are trying to get there first. the swipe fest continues following the convention. obama's campaign took a swipe at romney's speech for omitting afghanistan. the president talked about in his white house address. listen to this. >> we have broken the taliban's momentum and begun a transition to an afghan lead. next month, the last of the troops i ordered as part of the surge against the taliban will come home. by 2014, the transition will be complete. as long as we have a single american in harm's way, we will do everything in our power to keep them safe and help them succeed. that means giving them a clear mission and the equipment they need on the front lines. >> paul, any reaction from the romney camp on this one?

>> reporter: not to this specific one from this morning. you are right, randi, this started almost immediately after the speech in tampa. the obama campaign saying in his 45 minute speech, no talk for afghanistan. yesterday, put out a web video pointing out the same thing. the romney campaign pushing back on that. this is from a spokesman. he says obama attack is another attempt to politicize the war in afghanistan. a war in which president obama dangerously based his decisions on political calculations. it's interesting this war of wars. when it comes to polling, the president has the advantage there. >> people want the troops home. is that what you are saying? >> reporter: yes. yes. >> paul steinhauser, thank you for that. a new chapter in college football begins at penn state.

the litany lions will play. because of the sandusky scandal, they were banned from bowl games for four years. nine football players transferred to other schools. others stayed to move on. >> they are harsh penalties. there's no other way. you run and hide or attack it. we decided to move forward. these are the rules we play under. >> this whole situation has been a life lesson. you have to go through struggles to have a successful life. >> you can place blame. you can say things were fair or unfair. you can do all that. at the end of the day, it is what it is. this is the situation we are in. >> penn state plays ohio university today at noon eastern time. here is what's coming up this hour. we are the party that says

america can be america for everyone. that is what this platform is about. >> all week the spotlight was on the republicans. now it's the democrats turn. all morning we put the democratic platform in focus. while the politicians were rallying in florida, the bankers were crunching numbers in wyoming. what bernanke hinted about. another round of stimulus. >> i can't tell him to do that. he can't do that to himself. >> he may have up staged the event speaking to an empty chair. the good, the bad and the ugly of a clint eastwood speech. [ male announcer ] now you can swipe...

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and it's bringing the future forward. swing voters, soccer moms, senior citizens all important voting blocks president obama and mitt romney want desperately to win over. there's another group that could affect this year's vote. young voters. the latest cnn poll shows 58% of

those 18 to 34 say they favor president obama while 36% favor romney. here is the hitch for democrats, at least. fewer young people say they are likely to vote this year. a trend that's certainly not gone unnoticed by most campaigns. can obama woo the youth like four years ago or is there an opening for romney? joining me are two young women. thank you both for being here. we talked last weekend. it's great to have you back following the republican convention. katie, let me start with you. what was your reaction to romney's acceptance speech? did he win over young voters, do you think? >> i thought romney did a great job. in general, the republican national convention was a great opportunity for the entire party to rally behind the romney/ryan

ticket. youth voters were excited to see the level of engagement. they are not just speaking to -- or they are not just speaking at youth voters, they are speaking to youth voters. >> i understand you will speak at the democratic convention. congratulations. >> thank you. >> i want to play a bit of paul ryan's speech where he's pitching to young voters. listen with me. >> college graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms staring up at obama posters wondering when they can move out and get going with life. >> how did democrats counter that message? essentially a jobs message, but one that may resinate. are young voters disappointed in president obama, do you think? >> the answer is absolutely not.

what we saw at the republican national convention was a lot of rhetoric and use of the word youth. not a lot of solutions. real policies that impact young people. real solutions. we didn't see any of that from romney or ryan's speeches. what we are going to see this week is not only a party that is inclusive to youth, but a party offering solutions for my generation. we talked about things like college affordability and health care. they are policies impacting young people today. they are going to continue. it's why people stand so strongly with the president. they can say the word youth all they want but it's not until they offer policies will they see support from our generation. >> obama was courting the youth vote in colorado and iowa. listen to obama litting at romney. >> last week, my opponent's campaign called you the lost generation. >> boo!

>> and they hope by telling you these things you'll get discouraged and stay home this time because they know young people came out in record numbers four years ago. [ cheers and applause ] >> well, i'm here to tell you, don't listen to the nay sayers. >> katie, what is your reaction to that? are republicans cynics when it comes to the youth vote? >> i definitely don't think so. we are not looking for the youth not to come out in 2012. the fact of the matter is the youth unemployment rate is over 17% right now. to say the youth are not disappointed in obama is absurd. the youth are coming out and we are going to see them come out on the republican side. they are going to be voting for romney and ryan. >> let's talk about some of the numbers here. young voters did turn out in record numbers in '08 for obama. they preferred him 68 by 30 margin. that's the highest youth vote

ever recorded. the colleges he's visiting haven't been as big as they were in '08. should the democrats be fearful of a deenergized base and how do they change it? >> i have to tell you, i talk to politicians across the country. we are not seeing that across our campuses. so many students started school back this week. 200 or 300 people were filling lecture halls excited to engage in the president's campaign. what's so exciting on college campuses is there's a new waive of first time voters that didn't have a chance the first time around and are so excited to be a part of it today. there's an energy that we are continuing to see since the president elected us that we continue to see in 2012. i was a freshman at the university of texas in 2008 when the financial crisis hit. we saw literally a halt in job recruitment and interviews.

since the president took off sis and passed the stimulus package, we have seen those companies come back. we have seen interviewers and recruiters come back to campuses. this is a great example of the economy bouncing back. you can see it when you walk on to a college campus. recruiters are wanting to hire the next year of graduates. >> thank you both for coming back this weekend. >> thanks for having us. the democrats are holding their convention in north carolina, a state on the fence in the presidential race. how are democrats hoping to hold on? we'll have that next hour. a worker at a trendy store says she was fired because she didn't have blond hair and blue eyes. they didn't come from anyone but the company's vp. great white sharks are predators. we'll tell you about a family on a pleasure cruise who got a bit of an unexpected real close up

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why not take a day to explore your own backyard? with two times the points on travel, you may find yourself asking why not, a lot. chase sapphire preferred. there's more to enjoy. 20 minutes past the hour. glad you are with us. stories we are following across country. history made under the friday night lights in south florida. aaron entered the game for south plantation against nova. she is thought to be the first female ever to play quarterback in a boy's high school football game. in florida south plantation beat

nova, 31-14. some naked truth in seattle. top of the sixth. there he goes. nobody out. runner on first. yes, they call him the streaker. this fan dressed in nothing but a speedo rambled into the outfield before being taken down by security. angels beat the mariners, 9-1. massachusetts is off limits to swimmers this labor day weekend because of shark sightings like this one. last week, a family says the shark was feasting on a seal. now, to another story we are following this morning. wet seal is a young, trendy clothing store. i'm sure many of you passed by or shopped there. a former manager claims there's an ugly side of the family. nicole is one of three suing wet seal. she was fired because she was

black. >> she looked to my district manager and said that's the store manager? i wanted someone with blond hair and blue eyes. she points to this e-mail as proof. she claims the e-mail says needy versety, african-american dominate, huge issue. she and two other former workers are asking a federal court to turn their case into a class action lawsuit on behalf of 250 current and former black managers. wet seal would not speak to cnn on camera but issued this statement quoting we do not discriminate on race or any other category. the public and our customers will see african-americans are well represented in our employee base including our management. we asked you if wet seal should face a class action lawsuit. tiffany said racism and racial discrimination are so common in retail that it has its own sales

rack. blond hair and blue eyes doesn't mean beauty. yes, they should have a class action lawsuit. if they were jewish they would have been sued. if you step off a cliff, gravity does its work. they stepped off a legal cliff. lots of tweets coming in. appreciate that. keep it coming. tweet me. a shock for drivers. have you seen how much gas is costing right now? we'll tell you how high it's going and why. [ male announcer ] let's say you need to take care of legal matters.

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as you have probably noticed, gas prices are going up. $3.83 a gallon is the national average. it's up 30 cents what you paid in july. it will make it tougher on all of you planning to drive this labor day weekend. the rise can be blamed on hurricane isaac. despite a slow month, the stock market started with solid gains. hints from ben bernanke. he set measures to boost the economy could be on the way. we are tracking the story in new york. >> reporter: would he or wouldn't he? that was the question. would he announce new action to jolt the economy? the answer came on friday in

wyoming. he didn't announce new measures but left the door wide open saying the federal reserve will give accommodation as needed to promote a stronger economic recovery. the previous large scale bond purchases have been controversial especially along republicans. some accusing the fed of printing money. bernanke said the bond buying actually helped the economy. it boosted stocks and created more than $2 million jobs. the fed chief sounded cautionary about the economy calling the current situation far from satisfactory. he said improvement in the job market has been painfully slow, noting the unemployment rate has been stuck since january. the fed is leaving the door open for more stimulus. randi? >> thank you very much. jobs are being added in the recovery. they are not close to the same

jobs lost. 60% o. jobs lost were considered mid wage jobs. that is being changed now. what's being added are low wage jobs, that's jobs that pay less than $30,000 a year. here is the breakdown. 58% of the jobs are low wage jobs. 22% are those mid wage jobs and 20% are high wage jobs. u.s. troops serve in harm's way on front lines. a disturbing incident of hazing is raising one father's fury. his fight for his son, next. wider awake. only the beautyrest recharge sleep system combines the comfort of aircool memory foam layered on top of beautyrest pocketed coils to promote proper sleeping posture all night long. the revolutionary recharge sleep system from beautyrest... it's you, fully charged. receive up to a $300 beautyrest visa prepaid card when you buy select beautyrest mattress sets.

if you are looking to buy a home, well, now might be a good time. mortgage rates are hovering around 3.5%. a year ago, they were 4.2%. take a look. that'll be $973.42. ya know, your rates and fees aren't exactly competitive.